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Solve this problem involving isotopes and show all of

your work
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There are two stable isotopes of Chlorine, Cl-35 and Cl-37. The mass
of Cl-35 is 34.969 and the mass of Cl-37 is 36.966. The average
atomic mass of Cl is 35.457. Calculate the abundances of Cl-35 and
Cl-37 from this information.

If the abundance of Cl-35 is y, then the abundance of Cl-37 is 1 –

y (Assuming 100% = 1).

Atomic mass = (Mass of isotope 1 × abundance of isotope 1) + (Mass

of isotope 2 × abundance of isotope 2)
34.969y + 36.966(1-y) = 35.457
34.969y + 36.966 - 36.966y = 35.457
34.969y - 36.966y = 35.457 – 36.966
- 1.997y = -1.509
y = -1.509/-1.997
= 0.7556
The abundance of Cl-35 = 100 x 0.7556 = 75.56%.
The abundance of Cl-37 = 100(1 -0.7556) = 24.44%